


Stage Managing 102

by skymageariel



Series: 31 days of The Dragon Prince [25]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-05
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:27:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27401950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skymageariel/pseuds/skymageariel
Summary: Soren regretfully agrees to the one thing he wasn’t going to agree to.
Relationships: Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince), Rayla/Claudia (The Dragon Prince)
Series: 31 days of The Dragon Prince [25]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1946767
Comments: 6
Kudos: 26





	Stage Managing 102

“Uhg, where is it!” Rayla exclaimed, tearing apart couch cushions in the prop room. “It never leaves backstage- it can’t be far!”

“Don’t worry, we’ll find it soon,” Claudia exhaled, digging through the fabric under the sewing table. She pulled out a scrap of black fringe, excited. “Do you think this would look good on my jean jacket?”

“Claudia, we need to focus,” Rayla groaned, moving from the couches and into the prop closet, tearing everything from the shelves. “If we don’t find the bible, we’re done for.”

“Do you really think Ariel would have left the bible in here? It’s not like she’s ever actually in the prop room.”

“You’re right,” she sighed, closing the closet doors. “Ariel doing her job is extremely unlikely.” She sat on the ground next to Claudia, who was still rifling through the fabric bin, a small collection of scraps on the ground. “Where else can we look?”

“Knowing Ariel, she probably put the binder in her backpack or something and just forgot about it,” Claudia shrugged. “I bet if we look, we’ll find her pre-calc folder that she left instead.”

“This is unbelievable.” Rayla exhaled and slouched against the wall. “Opening night is  _ tonight _ and we have the worst stage manager in the world.”

“It’s not so bad,” Claudia said, reading a text on her phone. “Callum just told me that Amaya said she’s booting Ariel from the crew. I think we’re in the clear.”

“Yeah, but how are we gonna convince Soren to take on the role?” Rayla sighed. “Believe me, I’m glad she’s gone, but there’s no way he’ll have everything down for tonight.”

“It’s a long shot, I know,” Claudia said, dusting off her jeans as she stood. “But as we mentioned earlier- Soren knows the show by heart. All he needs is a good friend like you to show him the ropes.” She offered a hand to help Rayla up. She grabbed it tight standing. 

“You’re right,” she sighed. “Thanks.”

“Let’s do one more backstage sweep, then we’ll check in with Callum on his progress with Soren. Okay?”

Rayla bounced on her heels, looking around, anxious. “Yeah.”

Claudia grabbed her shoulders, steadying her. “Okay?”

“Okay.” Rayla smiled. 

—

“Hello?” Soren grumbled, lifting his phone to his ear.

“Amaya booted Ariel from the position. We need a stage manager,” Callum said through the speaker. 

“Goodbye,” Soren hung up. Not even a second passed before his phone started ringing. “I’m not doing it.”

“Please!” Callum pleaded. “There’s literally no one else!”

“Get Gren to do it. Hell, get Rayla to do it.”

“Gren’s in the house during shows, and Rayla has other responsibilities- Soren please! Please please please pretty pretty please! Pleaseeeee!”

He rolled his eyes. “FINE! If I do it will you stop bugging me?”

“Yes!”

“Then I’ll do it. When's the call time?”

“Four.”

“Jeeze, kid, that’s in two hours.”

“Yup! See you there!” Callum’s voice was followed by the dial tone. Soren grimaced at his phone screen, already regretting his decision. He hated freshmen.

—

“He said he’ll do it,” Claudia called to Rayla as they searched backstage once more. “Soren’s in!”

“Well  _ that’s  _ a relief,” Rayla sighed, checking inside the piano. This wouldn’t be the first obscure thing they’d find in the piano. Yet the show bible was still not there. “Now if only we could find this stupid binder.”

“Why don’t we just cut our losses and call Ariel to make sure it’s not in her bag by accident,” Claudia said over the sound of the stage door opening as soon as she said Ariel’s name. The heavy-footed footsteps echoed backstage- The two knew immediately who they’d summoned. 

“Oh, hey guys!” Ariel waltzed in, smiling wide. “Guess what I found!” In her arms was a white binder, decorated with the school logo. “It’s the show bible!”

“No shit, sherlock,” Rayla snarled, shaking slightly as she tried to keep a straight face. “And where was it?”

“You’ll never believe it, but-“ She started laughing uncontrollably. Rayla and Claudia shared a grimace. “I-“ wheeze of laughter, “I found it in my backpack! Isn’t that hilarious!” She doubled over laughing. Rayla forced a chuckle.

“Hey, can I see that?” Claudia asked, fake kindness caking her voice. “There’s a note I wanna make real quick.” She held out a hand, expectantly. 

“Uh, I don’t know,” Ariel said, stepping back. “Only the stage manager should be the one to hold the bible. I can make your note for you if you like!”

“It’s rather complicated, it’d be easier if I wrote it in,” Claudia replied, that syrup sweetness coating her words. Nice, but artificial. “C’mon, it won’t take any time at all.” Behind them, the stage door swung open. Callum stepped out, smiling at his phone as he said;

“Yup! See you there!” He lowered his phone, grinning until he saw the group standing backstage. “Woah, it’s like a party back here.”

“Hi, Callum,” Rayla said, turning to face him. She was smiling, but her eye was twitching. “Guess what!” she began in false excitement. “We found the show bible!”

“Oh, no way! Where was it?”

“My backpack!” Ariel laughed. “Isn’t that so funny?”

The grin melted from Callum’s face. “Yeah. About that. Amaya and Gren are in the other room- Amaya’s got something to tell you.”

“Only good things, I hope!” She giggled, handing the bible off to Claudia as she made her way into the black box. The other three shared a glance.

“In case you didn’t know,” Callum whispered, stepping closer to where Rayla and Claudia stood, “It’s not good things.”

“We figured,” the girls said in unison. 

“You got Soren on board?” Rayla asked, raising a brow.

“Yeah! All I had to do was be myself!” He flashed a smile before he realized; “Maybe that’s not a good thing.”

“Yeah, ‘yourself’ can be a lot,” Claudia confirmed. “At least we have an actual stage manager. Now we actually have a fighting chance.”

“Now I can finally get the freshman off my back during that dance number!” Callum exclaimed.

“Now we’ll actually get our cues on time,” Raya sighed with relief. 

Claudia held up her hands. “Hold on- I said ‘fighting chance’, not ‘guaranteed win’. We still have to teach him the ropes.”

“Nose Goes,” Rayla said, putting her finger on her nose.

“Rayla, this has to be your job. You’re the assistant stage manager,” Callum reminded her. She groaned, slouching as she rolled her eyes. 

“Don’t make me-“

“You have to.”

“Uhhhhgg. Fine.” Rayla trudged into the black box, letting the door shut behind her. A second later, she came back. “Don’t go in there.”

“Ariel’s having a meltdown?” Claudia guessed. 

“Ariel’s having a meltdown,” Rayla sighed. “Hide in the dressing rooms until Soren gets here?”

“Sounds good,” Callum agreed.

“Let’s go,” Claudia said as they all filed into the boy’s dressing room. “I’ve got ramen to heat up anyways.” That dressing room had a microwave, and was therefore superior. 

—

“This is your stand,” Rayla said, gestured to a shitty podium that stood by the wall next to the main curtain pulley. “Your show bible lives here,” she placed the binder on the podium.

“Question; What is a show bible.” 

“Soren, you know what a show bible is. It’s all the cues written in the script- all you have to do is follow along. Moving on to the prop table.” Rayla sidestepped to a huge table against the wall, next to the podium. It was sectioned off with masking tape, separating the table into scenes. In each scene was a selection or props. “In your show bible, you have notes for who needs which prop when. If someone approaches the prop table and they aren’t supposed to be nearby, literally punch them in the gut and kick them in the face.”

“That doesn’t seem-“

“Its the only way you can keep these bastards from props that aren’t theirs. Moving on to the mic table.” Rayla strode to a table in the back. “Each person has their own chord. Some people share a pack. You have when those changes are in your bible. You and Marcos will be running a sound check later- there, you can get a visual on who switches to which pack and make sure it happens.”

“This seems like a lot,” Soren grumbled, slightly worried. 

“Don’t worry- I’ll walk you through a lot of the stuff you have to do when I’m not busy,” Rayla assured him. “Just make sure you stay on task and stay assertive. The cast walked all over Ariel before. You have to make sure you don’t let them treat you the same way. You’re the boss.”

“Yeah. I’m the boss,” Soren repeated with confidence. 

“You’ll have a headset, where you’ll cue scene changes, set changes, lights, and curtains. Make sure you stay on top of those.”

“Uh-“

“Just follow along in the-“

“In the bible. Right.” Soren shook out his wrists, exhaling with increasing confidence. “I’m the boss. Me. The boss.”

“...Yeah. Any questions?” Rayla asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Nope!” He flashed a smile.

“You’re clueless, aren’t you.”

“Yep!”

“Great,” Rayla placed her face in her hands. “Just- I’ll do my best to help you out along the way, but I do have other responsibilities. Follow along in the show bible best you can-“

“Is that the only advice you can offer?” Soren asked, leaning against the mic table. “Is there anything I should know that isn’t in the show bible?”

“Not really,” Rayla shrugged. “Except to not lean on tables backstage, or else-“ As she was speaking, the table legs slipped out from under him, sending Soren and all the mic packs and wires crashing to the ground. “... Or else that will happen.”

“Uh, a little help?” Soren groaned from under a pile of wires.

“I, uh, have stuff to do. Callum needs his hair curled or something,” Rayla said, stepping away. “Have fun sorting those,” she called as she jogged away.

“How do I know who the wires belong to?” Soren yelled after her.

“They’re labeled with spike tape at the bottom!” Her voice resounded from across the stage. Soren sighed as he sat up, pulling wires apart, putting batteries into packs. 

“This sucks!” he yelled. Rayla didn’t answer. 

Why did he agree to do this? He should have never said yes. Now he was a theatre kid.  _ A theatre kid.  _ He was one of  _ them  _ now. He’d be pulling up to the local IHOP next Friday at 10:30 pm, guilty as hell as the poor waiters took their order. He didn’t wanna be that kid. He didn’t wanna be that guy.  _ Thank god this is the only show I’m managing,  _ Soren thought to himself as he flipped the table back on its feet. 

—

“Now we just hope he figures shit out,” Rayla said, wrapping a strand of Callum’s hair around a curling iron. “We’ve got seven minutes to curtains, and he seems pretty confident.”

“At least he didn’t lose the show bible,” Claudia mumbled. He face was up close to the mirror, lips puckered as she applied a bit too much lip gloss. 

“At least Ariel  _ found _ the show bible,” Callum reminded them.

“Shut up, Callum.”

“Right, sorry.”

“She wouldn’t have been the one to find it if she wasn’t already the one to lose it. So Soren knocked over a few mics. He knows the show inside and out, he just needs a helping hand.” Claudia dropped the lip gloss onto the table, picking up a mascara tube in its place. “Right, Rayla?”

“Yeah,” she sighed. Callum’s hair was almost done. Which was good- everyone else was already in their place. The three of them were the last to make their way backstage. Soren’s voice came over the speaker-

_ “Welcome all to the Katolis High Theatre production of James and the Giant Peach! Please silence your cell phones, and put them on airplane mode to help minimize microphone interference. Thank you for your cooperation! The show will begin in five minutes.”  _

“Well he sounds happy,” Callum said, pulling one of his curls. 

“All right- your hair’s done,” Rayla said, brushing a hand through the messy curls she’d created. “Get your costume on and get in place. I’m gonna go talk to Soren.”

“Okay. Claudia, get out.” Callum stood, stepping back to give her room to leave. 

“Dude, you’re wearing that shirt under your costume-“

“Get out please.”

“Fine,” Claudia huffed, dropping her makeup and following Rayla out of the dressing room. 

Rayla made her way through a sea of cast and crew mates, each whispering hushed exclamations about the show to come. The whole stage was dark, nothing but the dim runners lighting up blue against the black backstage walls. The air conditioning was on- cast members were shivering slightly, but as soon as those warm lights hit the stage, they’d all reek of sweat. Through the crowd, Rayla found Soren standing guard in front of the prop table. A couple freshmen were trying to grab one of the potion bottles used in one of the songs. 

“But Ariel always let us-“

“Ariel isn’t here anymore,” Soren told the kids. “Get lost before I punch you in the gut.”

“You can’t do that!”

“Oh yeah?” Soren bent down, meeting the kids eye to eye, teeth bared. “Watch me,” he muttered. The kids grimaced and walked away. Rayla nodded, impressed. 

“You’re great at this. You should have been stage manager since day one,” she told him. Soren shrugged, turning back to the podium where the show bible lay flat. Rayla frowned; Soren was never one to accept a compliment with silence. “Is everything okay?”

“I’m just nervous,” he replied, timid. 

“Oh. Uh-“

“I don’t really know what I’m doing. And I don’t like not knowing what I’m doing.”

“It’s okay, you’ve got-“

“The show bible, yeah yeah yeah, but what happens when some kids mic isn’t working while they’re on stage? What happens when a set change goes horribly wrong? What happens when Callum falls into the pit-“

“Woah, woah, woah,” Rayla whispered. “You’re freaking yourself out. You’re gonna be okay. And if anything goes wrong, Amaya will be back here telling us how to fix it. If not, we’ll work on it together.”

“You mean it?”

Rayla nodded. “Of course Why would I lie? Besides- you know the show by heart. You know the set changes, the lighting changes, the cues- everything. You just need to put them into practice. By tomorrow, I swear you’ll be a natural.” The house lights dimmed. Rayla grabbed Soren by the shoulders. “Alright. This is it. You’re the stage manager. You’re the boss.”

“I’m the boss.”

“Now make the call.”

“Cue overture,” Soren said into the headset. A second later, the orchestra began to play. He and Rayla shared one last nod before she took her spot at the main curtain pulley. After a minute, the overture came to a close. “Cue curtains.” The soft swish of the curtains moving across the tracks sounded softly. “Cue lights.” The stage lit up. Showtime. 

—

Long story short, Soren became one of the theatre kids at IHOP on a Friday night at 10:30 pm. The whole cast and crew sat around the table, passing syrup and sugar packets across the whole table, digging knives and forks into stacks of pancakes and waffles. The thing about this, though, is that Soren wasn’t upset about it. He laughed with the cast, joking about silly goofs that ended up making scenes all the better, trashing Marcos (who wasn’t there) for missing like, six sound cues. Maybe being a theatre kid wasn’t so bad after all.

He was still in the class for the credit, though. No way he was doing  _ that _ for a whole other year. 

**Author's Note:**

> hi! sorry for the hiatus, things are hectic and i didn’t want to overwork myself too much. im not gonna say im back but i will be finishing these 31 days! the finale for the series is already done, and its some of my best work so like,, day 31 lets goooo
> 
> anyways thanks for sticking around! it means a lot <3


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